Furman Trip Report

Parents Forum
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<p>Notes from DW and S Trip to Furman:</p>

<p>General Impressions/Look of Campus:
Pretty, but very car oriented. Seems big for college that size. Nice lake. Campus is off away from any commercial areas. Academics and “feel” were impressive. Furman has a reputation of a pretty conservative and religious student body – didn’t get enough of a feel for this to either agree or disagree. </p>

<p>Overall Pros:
Everyone was very friendly, lots of fountains, lots of traditions, very school spirited, Greenville is a beautiful city, lots of organizations, freshman orientation week at beginning of year</p>

<p>Overall Cons:
Limited dining options, not much in walking distance of campus, </p>

<p>Dorms:
Fine, freshman are together in dorms, free laundry Some suites, some hall style and some apartments for upperclassmen. Most people live on campus</p>

<p>Dining Options:
Fairly limited as far as different locations, dining hall seemed nice. Usual variety of foods, etc.</p>

<p>Surrounding Community:
Greenville is a nice city with a lot to do, however, it is a car ride away, nothing in the immediate area. </p>

<p>Classroom Buildings:
Fine, some are under renovation and they are building a new science building. Beautiful library, newly renovated. Some classrooms are wireless, and some aren’t yet. The libray is wireless.</p>

<p>Impressions of Students/Friendliness:
Seemed very friendly, lots of offers of e-mail addresses, etc. Greek life is big, no getting around it – but not overwhelming. Tour guide was an Independent. Athletics are big, football in particular</p>

<p>Interesting Tidbits from Info Session:
Lots of different campus traditions, running fountains, etc. Study abroad very big. Furman is switching to a 2 semester year with a “Maymester”, from the trimester calendar they are currently on. Furman has an interesting Early Decision program. They call it ED, but it’s not binding until a deposit is made. Deposit is due Jan. 15, which is 30 days after the ED decisions are mailed. More like EA than ED, but the decision to commit must be made before the May 1 date that most EA programs use. Because of the non-binding nature, a person could apply for Furman “ED” as well as other schools EA or rolling and have a number of options to choose from come Jan. 15. Interesting. If Carolyn is reading, do you think that they call this ED solely to get around the NACAC
requirement to give EA and Regular Decision applicants until May 1 to decide?</p>

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<p>thanks for sharing a 2006 day at Furman with the board. Didn't know about the unique ED thing
The dining options on campus are limited..just like I felt they are at Univ of Richmond..but there are haunts off campus in slaburb looking strip malls there north of Greenville or up in Travelers Rest on the way to NC foothills close by if you don't have time to go to the much more upscale and renovated downtown area.
My alma mater. the thing you didn't see on a Sunday that was the most important strength and aspect of the college. The faculty is very demanding just as one would hope to find in a LAC that is preparing students for further education..but teachers mentor and extend themselves which is one reason the student body looks secure upbeat. The faculty really cares about bringing them along and support you at graduate school placement. On my computer table at this moment: a six page handwritten letter I opened yesterday from a beloved now 75 year old mentor/professor..updating me on the news of the previous generation of Furman teachers and administrators and Greenville leaders (Furman does a lot of community service in Greenville hospitals, social service agencies etc. although I also don't much like that downtown is 10 minutes away) It is not unusual to get annual letters or calls like this the rest of your life from your favorite mentors at Furman, no matter what your major, and you are always recognized with warmth on your returns. 25 years out and recently raised the money and returned with an alum group to build a Habitat House to honor a retiring mentor. I am very excited about the new Science complex..the Chem dept already had a national reputation but the Biology facilities are going to also be amazing. Furman also has a rigorous Clinical Psych dept that is very research based. Music is also strong..my roommate got a masters degree in performance at Northwestern and sang for the Chicago Symphony Chorus before getting a conducting degree at Columbia and the Boston Pops conductor Keith Lockhart was a couple years behind me. I arrived from Delaware with an Illinois drivers license in a truck with West Virginia plates and married a guy I met there from central Jersey. Yes it is southern but they love kids from elsewhere. Always hoping geographic diversity will take off.</p>

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<p>Furman student here, thought I'd make some comments about what you said.</p>

<p>You said that the campus is 'car-oriented', and that is pretty true. With nothing within walking distance, cars are pretty crucial. Still, I manage to survive without a car, but things would definitely be a lot easier with one. </p>

<p>You mentioned the conservitive/religiousness of the campus, and yes, I would say that Furman is still very much a religious school, despite not being officially affiliated anymore. Most people here are religious, and for many people their religion is a dominant force in their lives. It's definitely very different from most schools, since you don't expect college age people to be that concerned with religion. Still, the students here are friendly, smart, and very driven people. It seems like everyone here is an overachiever.</p>

<p>Greek life here is somewhat big, but definitely not overwhelming. I would say that it dominates the party scene, but there are tons of people who have fun without being Greek. I think I saw that around 1/3 of students join fraternities and sororities, but it definitely feels like more girls go greek than guys.</p>

<p>Campus life is really good here. Almost everyone here lives on campus, and its a nice tight community. The dorms are pretty nice, and the various facilities for students are on par with most colleges. What I really like about Furman is the way they do Orientation week: all Freshmen get to school a week early, and go through a bunch of activities to get them accustomed to college life, learn the campus, start meeting people, etc. There are a lot of activities designed for different dorm halls(along with their brother/sister hall) to bond together, and that makes it a lot easier to develop friendships early on.</p>

<p>The academic scene here is rather intense. Classes are very challenging, but also rewarding, and classes usually only have around 20 people or so. A lot of people I know find the academics to be overwhelming, and I know my GPA here is a shadow of what it was in high school, but I am learning so much and I feel you can get a lot out of the classes you take here.</p>

<p>If I had to go over the things I don't like about Furman, I'd say:</p>

<p>1) The fact that it gets boring often times on the weekends, when there isn't all that much to do here
2) The extreme religiousness of the student body is nausiating at times
3) The lack of a big time sports program
4) The lack of a real college town atmosphere- Greenville isn't a bad place, but it isn't an exciting place for college students by any means</p>

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<p>Thank you so much for this virtual visit. Furman is one of the schools on my D's list at the moment, but we won't be in a position (literally) to visit till next fall when we are back in the states. I didn't know that about the car aspect, and am not sure I'm too thrilled about it. The music aspect is definitely important to her. I'm happy to hear about the geographic diversity, such as it is. We will be in Atlanta, and know plenty of Atlanta folks who head there, but she isn't all that interested in a solely southern school.</p>

<p>What other schools is your S looking at, Iderochi?</p>

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<p>Let's see. This trip covered Elon, Presbyterian and Winthrop in addition to Furman. Presby is off the list. Winthrop still on as a good bet. Elon a target, and Furman a low reach (I try to be conservative in my estimations). I'd like him to take a look at Emory & Henry and maybe Bridgewater as additional good bets. Additional targets -- I dunno. I'd like to find some in the southeast. I keep pushing Centre, but he's not interested. Same with Sewanee and Rhodes. Lynchburg and Roanoke would look good, but he's looking for schools with football (not that he plays). W&L is too greek, JMU too big.</p>

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<p>As big as JMU is, it has a small campus feeling for a larger school. The campus is gorgeous. The only downside is transportation to an airport, should you need to go home on a week-end. It could get to be a big deal. Most kids seem just so happy there.</p>

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<p>Unfortunately when we visited JMU, S did not get the "small campus" feeling compared to some of the other schools we visited. The student happiness factor was a big plus, but in the end the trip confirmed that he really wanted a smaller school. The recent "bisection" of the campus by I-81 also left a bad taste. But it's a great school, particularly for in-state kids looking for a medium to large student population.</p>

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<p>What's JMU - James Madison?</p>

<p>Must admit, football is not something D has even considered. I pulled up Furman's football schedule, though, to see who they played (because I didn't know how else to find schools with football.) There are a few schools on their schedule that I've heard good things about - like Appalachian State, or Samford, both smaller schools in the south.</p>

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<p>lderochi, I've had 3 see JMU. ALL hated the bisection. They felt the school was too big with nothing specific to offer which would counter the negatives. All thought they would find better fits--the first two did!!</p>

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<p>binx, JMU is James Madison. The football thing came completely out of left field several months ago and caused a serious re-write of the list! :) </p>

<p>Son doesn't play football and has never played football. But he's decided that the "fall football weekend" type of feel is something he wants.</p>

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<p>For lderochi and the responding Furman student, is the "boring on weekends" feel because many students go home on weekends, or because there is little to do without a car, or little available on campus?</p>

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<p>mominva, well that makes me feel better, since we decided jointly that my S will not attend. I just feel so uncomfortable with him having to struggle to get to the airport (especially at an off time, b/c for vacations there are private charters that provide transportation). I really liked the school, but we were only there for a day, and we had 2 seniors that were a week from graduation and extremely sentimental about their school.</p>

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<p>Current Furman students comments are very interesting since the school is more Greek, more selective and the student body is more consistently upper middle class than in my era. I get the idea that many of the kids are from bustling New South Florida, Georgia and Carolina city suburbs now where the economy is good and the weather fine. Big City burbs even in the South mean their parents are used to moving in many cases so the students have outlooks that are inclusive and not tightly regional. Kids are well traveled now and using foreign study in high numbers while at Furman. Never underestimate Atlanta, those of you from other regions of the US..it is a melting pot city both in thought and outlook..segments of prosperous Atlanta voted for Kerry although most counties/burbs went for Bush.
The students tend to have very warm meet and greet personalities as do the Faculty. (This is a written standard at Washington and Lee..the speaking tradition, but merely the norm at Furman.)</p>

<p>Most of my posts are aimed at touting Furman for turning good students into lifelong learners and successful graduate students due to the incredible advantage of smaller classrooms.<br>
I was chatting with a local Furman sophomore here in Virginia over the holidays and he was taking Econ in a room with thirty kids. My S at Duke is taking Econ with at least 200 people, and frankly...there is no question that smaller classrooms are golden. If only my S could always have the class size Furman offers. This current local Furman student is from a more conservative and religious family than mine and was praising his sole Republican Poli Sci teacher..who by the way also taught me and this prof is a great scholar and man of integrity even though my politics are further left. (I arrived the year of Watergate.) However, this teacher's publically conservative outlook is in the minority with Furman teachers, but produces much scholarly writing, published studies, and offers the students the chance for debate and discourse. The faculty is much more liberal in politics similar to that polls taken at most LACs.<br>
I don't know why Furman fails to effectively get across that their educational scene is not conservative in the classroom. The reason Furman is branded as conservative in atmosphere is due to the student body and the old connections to the Southern Baptist Convention, where ties were severed in the early 80s.<br>
I remember a young man who is now an attorney in Atlanta who refused to read Madame Bovary when he was 18 because she broke a commandment! My jaw dropped..I had no idea there were 18 year olds with this outlook in my day. (I don't bring this up when I rarely run into him now as I am sure he would be deeply embarrassed.) I can only conjecture 25 years later, but my guess is some students at Furman now come there and recreate their mega Burb church youth groups on campus. They often fail to recognize how mystifying this culture is to students of different outlooks and regional origins. But this is something the campus Chaplain's office and faculty work very hard to ameliorate.<br>
Furman is not a school where kids go home on weekends in droves. However, since about half my friends were from Atlanta, Atlanta and Atlanta, I would say that Atlantans and Charlotte kids and South Carolinians go home at least once a semester besides Thanksgiving etc. Since I was more Yankefied in background, I was often brought along as a guest.
I encountered zero religiosity among the faculty, who were highly principled free thinkers who took pains to open up the minds of students. I even studied Biblical Archeology one semester abroad with the department of religion and found them to be incredible historians, archeologically up to date, readers of Greek and Aramaic, and teachers who connected us daily with both Palestinians and Jewish residents of the region.
One way to deal with living in the foothills of the most beautiful part of NC is to run up there on weekends and play in the Pisgah Forest area. This is the alternative to running down to Atlanta.
My hope is that this is the decade that Furman gets that rush of OOS applicants, but always retains its warmth and focus on character development. Although admissions are not highly selective, Dukeman is right..the students are expecting to take leadership roles as adults and tend to buckle down and study there. It is already a school with surprisingly good graduate school outcomes because for some students, close relations with teachers are the turning point for setting even higher learning goals for the next phase of life.</p>

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<p>I'm not sure I agree with the not "highly" selective tag. I know that US News puts them in the "More Selective" category, but they must be at the very high end of that category. Furman does have a higher acceptance rate than might be expected, but I think there's a lot of self-selection going on here, and not a lot of students are applying that would consider Furman a large reach.</p>

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<p>I know your perception is that the admission pool is rather well qualified Iderochi, and you are right. I guess my thesis is that a student that comes into Furman with a 1200 SAT might have trouble getting into some other colleges but is imminently Teachable and this is what Furman excels at...Teaching. They did actually waitlist some students with high stats in recent years. But I believe that students who are able and demonstrate keen interest in Furman and can offer some fresh perspectives have very good odds at admission. Furman's application is also less demanding than many my S took on..and you can stand out with extra essay effort and with coming to Furman for a classroom visit or overnight as a senior.
Just so ya'll don't think I am whistlin Dixie (ha) on the outstanding grad school outcomes..many many of my classmates got masters and PhDs in great universities..see this: <a href="http://furman.edu/press/pressarchive.cfm?ID=3780%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://furman.edu/press/pressarchive.cfm?ID=3780&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>and re last year's stats from their web site:</p>

<p>Approximately 2,700 undergraduate students have enrolled for the 2005-06 school year, including nearly 700 freshmen. There are 40 states represented in the class of 2009, with South Carolina (182), Georgia (119) and North Carolina (91) providing more than half the students. The average SAT score for the incoming students is 1302, with the middle 50 percent falling between 1220 and 1390.</p>

<pre><code> Of Furman's new students, 66 ranked either first or second in their high school classes. The incoming class also includes 81 minority students, who comprise 12 percent of the group, and 40 international students.
</code></pre>

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<p>This is a fascinating discussion of a school I've long watched. I have not found a single thing to criticize about Furman academically, but have never quite gotten my head around its social atmosphere. Dukeman, I especially appreciate your comments and insights!</p>

<p>(Iderochi - I have no idea about Furman's individual take on ED. I suspect that they're just trying to combine the best of ED and EA. But really they should probably come up with a different name for it - perhaps Early Commitment?)</p>

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<p>Yeah, but EC is already a well-used acronym, so that would only cause confusion. Looking forward to a more in-depth visit next Fall, when S will make the overnight trip rounds of the schools he's most interested in.</p>

<p>The funny thing is, I come from a background (fundamentalist, but non-Baptist) where I "get" what people have such trouble trying to describe about Furman's religious culture. But that was long ago -- it's as foreign to my S as it is to most people. And I can't really describe it to him either, I just instinctively understand it.</p>

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<p>When S & I visited a year ago, we were both very impressed. We had gone primarily to see Davidson (which we both disliked intensely) and wound up really enjoying Furman.</p>

<p>With regard to the religiosity, we did not find it at all oppressive (we are not devout anythings). I think just because it is well accepted on campus means it doesn't have that in-your-face, challenging quality that one can run into at other places. It seems to be just another variable facet to human behavior that the students and faculty/staff acknowledge; that is, it's just not a big deal. </p>

<p>The fact that the campus is dry, however, seemed to be something that most of the students actually welcomed. It relieves them of saying no, being pressured, or whatever, and the kids are not prohibited from drinking off campus (they are assumed to be adhering to state liquor laws, though). Maybe it's the dry campus that sustains this perception of it being "religious."</p>

<p>Another vestige of the strict past that we noticed was that the professors take attendance in class. The students "signed in" on the roster pinned to the bulletin board. There was no mention that attendance at class was required, so maybe it's just a subtle reminder that one is expected to be there.</p>

<p>One thing that I think is unique to Furman (at least in my knowledge) is that there is a requirement for every student to participate in the enrichment activities on campus. When there's a lecture, or recital, film, whatever, going on, the kids record their attendance. They have to attend a certain number of them every semester. I can't remember the details now, but it seemed to be enough that the kids would have to be exposed to new and unfamiliar things. I think that is great. I can count on S to go to a bunch of physics lectures, but a dance concert? A current events panel? HA.</p>

<p>When we arrived home, there was no doubt Furman was my S's safety, and I was delighted with that. I was sad when it dropped off the list a few months later, but I understand the reasoning.</p>

<p>BTW, Faline2 is absolutely right about the Chem dept, it is DYNAMITE. (They could beef up the physics, though :/ )</p>

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<p>Lderochi--what about Goucher?</p>

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<p>"I have not found a single thing to criticize about Furman academically"</p>

<p>Jeez, you're easy.</p>